Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott is determined to grab his latest first team chance with both hands.
With Kolo Toure currently banned while an investigation is launched into why he failed a routine drugs test, the England centre-back will get an extended opportunity to show why City paid Everton £24million for him in the summer of 2009.
Lescott said: "When you play for a big club, with a big squad, then it's a fact of life that when an opportunity to impress comes along you have to take it.
"But at the same time I wasn't satisfied with the way things were working out for me because I just wasn't getting in the team. I tried to be professional about it and that's why I went in to speak to the manager.
"There was no showdown or anything like that, but I was disappointed and I wanted some assurances because there had been some games when an opportunity arose and he picked someone else.
"I wasn't aggressive about it. I just wanted to know what I needed to do to get back into the team.
"I wanted to know if I'd done something the manager wasn't happy with, just so I didn't do it again. We spoke - in fact we've had a few chats this season - and I took on board what he said.
"The manager is a good listener and he just told me to keep going and take my chance when it came along. It doesn't matter how much money you earn, if you are a true professional then you want to play.
"If I'm playing then I'm happy, if I'm out of the team then I'm unhappy."
